An Eagle Riders Episode Guide

Hunter faces off with Zabamba's jet fighters.

X56 Rebel Defiance

[G-F #28: Desperate Fight! Valley of Betrayal]

In the country of Congor, a helicopter chases a man named Chester in a jeep, firing upon him. The jeep explodes, and Chester crawls away. But the helicopter lands, and a man in an overly dressy white military uniform jumps off, pointing a gun at Chester. His name is General Botan. Chester states that he was just going into town for supplies. But General Botan doesn’t believe him. He accuses Chester of going into town to deliver a letter to the Eagle Riders. Suddenly, General Botan tells the helicopter pilot to deliver the letter, which apparently summons the Eagle Riders. General Botan says that they will be ‘ready’ when the Eagle Riders arrive.

Dr. Keane receives the note. It says:

Dear Eagle Riders,

Please save the people of Congor. We are suffering under the tyranny of President Zabamba. It is common knowledge in my country that President Zabamba is working in partnership with the Vorak…

The Eagle Riders are disgusted by this information, but based on what they know of President Zabamba, they agree that he would be the kind of man to work with the Vorak. Dr. Keane tells the team that the reason the Vorak are interested in Congor is likely because that country has one of the largest working uranium mines in the world. Zabamba is probably providing an existing workforce to extract the uranium and handing it over to the Vorak.

Dr. Keane goes on to say that the location of the Congor Resistance Army is also revealed in Chester’s letter. Dr. Keane orders the team to make contact and see if they can help the Resistance Fighters.

In Congor, General Botan turns out to be an aide of President Zabamba. Both are discussing how the Vorak gave them machines to speed up the mining of uranium, and how the uranium will help the Vorak conquer the Earth much faster. Zabamba’s reward will be to be made the Supreme Ruler of the entire continent, once the Vorak have achieved their goals. Not to mention, General Botan will be a very rich man. However, they must get rid of the Resistance Army first. General Botan plans to attack their secret base. He also plans to get rid of the Eagle Riders when they show up.

Tanks attack the Congor Resistance Fighters in the forest. The Resistance are on foot. They wonder how their enemies knew where to find their base. A man named Raymond appears, telling them to split up. A woman named Reesa questions this order, telling him that they should stand united. Finally, the Fighters just decide to get out of there. They are coming under a hail of fire when the Eagle Riders appear in their individual vehicles. Hunter sees the situation and orders Joe, Mickey and Ollie to take out the tanks on the ground. Hunter and Kelly move toward incoming enemy aircraft. They split up, easily destroying the jets. On the ground, the other Eagle Riders have similar success destroying the tanks in the forest, to the cheers of the Resistance Fighters.

The Eagle Riders are taken back to the Resistance Army’s base, and Hunter confirms that they got Chester’s letter. Raymond remarks that the location of the Resistance base seems to be public knowledge, but Hunter counters that this is no reason to give up. Other Resistance Fighters state that the Vorak are strong, and the Resistance troops are disheartened by so many defeats. The enemy force is made up of trained soldiers, while the Resistance are just a rag-tag bunch. But the Eagle Riders are here to help. Mickey brags that with the Eagle Riders there, ‘you won’t need anyone else’. Of course, as we all know, such bravado only comes before a fall…

Hunter and Joe decide to infiltrate Zabamba’s army, starting in his labor camps. Reesa warns them to watch out for General Bolton, who is a mercenary brought in by Zabamba to destroy the Resistance.

The guys on the Eagle Riders are infiltrating the military bases as new recruits, leaving Kelly behind. They give her their wristlinks, although Kelly protests that they cannot leave go without them. Joe replies that they can’t let Zabamba’s men know who they are. Kelly reluctantly accepts the wristlinks, but admonishes them to be careful. Why the heck are they leaving her behind? At this point, she seems to be the only one of them with any brains.

The four Eagle Rider guys walk up to an army base and say that they want to join the army to ‘help President Zabamba’. They are put to work at the camp.

Back at the Resistance base, Kelly tells everyone to lie low until the guys report back. Raymond says that he’s going back into town to locate more members for the Resistance, and Reesa tells him to be careful as he leaves. But she does not see a strange gleam in his eye.

Kelly notices that Reesa seems to care for Raymond, and Reesa admits that she and Raymond were supposed to get married after this battle. But lately Raymond has been asking strange and avoiding her.

Meanwhile, Hunter, Joe, Mickey and Ollie are working in the labor camp. They help a man who has collapsed from the hard work. Hunter states that this is not letting them get close to Zabamba. General Bolton approaches, and tells the four that they are being transferred to the uranium mine. Soon they are being driven through a long canyon to an underground elevator, which takes them into a processing plant. They admire the massive size of the machinery there, and are surprised when Zabamba and Bolton show up. Four clear tubes descend from the ceiling, trapping the Eagle Riders individually. A green gas emerges from the top of each one, causing all of them, even cyborg Joe, to pass out. Bolton and Zabamba look on, laughing. So much for Mickey’s bragging!

Back at the Resistance base, Raymond reports that the others were caught. The Fighters declare that they will help break out the guys. Raymond points to a specific valley on the map, telling the Army to go through there to get to the captured Eagle Riders. Yet, something about Raymond is beginning to bother Kelly too. She hopes that his ‘pessimism’ doesn’t rub off on the others.

After marching through the valley for awhile, Raymond orders everyone to halt, and for Kelly to leave her G3 vehicle behind, so as not to attract attention. But when they reach the end of the valley, an ambush is waiting for them. Raymond orders everyone into a nearby cave. Zabamba laughs, and brings up the four captured Eagle Riders, who have been tied up to giant X-shaped structures. Mickey and Ollie bemoan the fact that they don’t have their wristlinks. Guess you guys should have listened to Kelly!

Reesa tells Raymond that they have to do something, but he drops his gun. He says that he is giving up and surrendering. Most of the other Fighters seem to agree. But Reesa can’t believe it. She still wants to help the Eagle Riders.

Raymond says that he is going out of the cave to try and negotiate. Reesa calls out that a scorpion is near his boot, but Raymond simply crushes it with his heel. He then cries out and falls over, because Reesa has shot him in the back.

Kelly, shocked, asks why she did such a thing, and Reesa explains that Raymond was always afraid of scorpions, not to mention that he would never give up. She declares that this man must be an imposter. Indeed, ‘Raymond’ (who is still alive) tells Reesa that he was able to fool everybody but her. He rips off his mask and he is revealed to be General Bolton.

Reesa asks Bolton what was done with the real Raymond, and Bolton replies that he was arrested and taken to one of their labor stations. He was ‘a tough nut to crack’ but eventually he spilled his guts and told Zabamba’s men everything they wanted to know.

Zabamba declares that the Resistance Fighters have had enough time, and orders his men to ensure that the prisoners (the Eagle Riders) are not freed. Zabamba’s soldiers strangely interpret this as orders to kill the guys. They line up, aiming their guns at the four defenseless Eagle Riders. But just as they are about to fire, Kelly shouts, running out of the cave and dodging a hail of gunfire. She captures four men with her Stunerator Armband Net. Reesa runs out to help her, and then the other Resistance Fighters join the girls.

Zabamba’s men start throwing explosives at the Resistance, but Kelly leaps clear, running to her G3 vehicle. The other Eagle Riders call out to her, wishing they were able to get off of their X-posts and assist her. But Kelly doesn’t need help. She jumps right over a line of armed soldiers waiting to ambush her, kicking one of them in the face as she does. She uses her Stunerator Armband again to take care of the soldiers around her individual vehicle, then jumps inside and takes off.

The Resistance Fighters are debating how much longer they can hold out when Kelly arrives in the G3 vehicle, taking out many of Zabamba’s tanks. As she does this, Reesa frees the guys. Kelly lands, tossing the guys their wristlinks before taking off again. They transform into Eagle Mode just in time to experience the Earth trembling as a giant robot emerges from the ground.

The source of the ground shaking is the uranium mining machine provided by the Vorak. Zabamba is piloting this robot, and he begins firing at the Eagle Riders. Hunter yells at Reesa to have the Resistance Fighters take cover behind the rocks. Meanwhile, Kelly’s G3 shows up, doing a flyby, and passes low so Hunter can jump onto the wing. The other three guys follow suit. Kelly pilots the vehicle and dodges the giant laser beams easily, eventually flying off behind a waterfall. The giant robot appears, only to be confronted with the united Ultra Eagle 5, complete with Hunter on top brandishing his Phase Foil. Delta Power is engaged, and Hunter makes mincemeat of the robot, yelling like Tarzan as he does so. Since Zabamba is inside the robot, he dies in the process. Yep, an actual human death.

Later on, at sunset, Reesa declares that thanks to the Eagle Riders, Zabamba is gone. Now she has to go to the labor camps, free Raymond, and tell everyone the good news. The Congor people are grateful to the Eagle Riders, and Reesa is glad that she and Kelly became such good friends, fighting for the Global Good.

Kelly attacks the fighter jets.

Joe protects Congor Resistance Fighters in the forest.

Ollie and Mickey brag about their fighting prowess.

Kelly reluctantly accepts the guys' wristlinks.

The Eagle Riders help an injured man at Zabamba's labor camp.

Kelly discusses Zabamba's forces with the Resistance Fighters.

Kelly assures Reesa that Raymond still cares for her.

The Eagle Riders arrive at the uranium processing plant.

Glass tubes trap the Eagle Riders. There's even a small one for Mickey!

Hunter tries to break out of his glass tube.

Hunter and Ollie are overcome by poison gas.

Even cyborg Joe can't resist the poison gas.

Raymond and Kelly assess the strength of Zabamba's forces.

Kelly races through gunfire to save the other Eagle Riders.

Joe wishes that he had his wristlink.

Kelly attacks Zabamba's men.

Kelly fires at Zabamba's forces.

Reesa frees the Eagle Riders, while Kelly tosses them their wristlinks.